A builder who had a heart attack at home and asked his wife to drive him to hospital has been reunited with the ambulance crew and police officer who came to his rescue.
Bob Booth, 59, began having severe chest pains at his home in Saint Norbert Drive, Ilkeston and asked his wife Brenda to drive him to A&E.
However, the couple only reached the end of their road before they had to stop to call for help from East Midlands Ambulance Service and a passing police officer.
Bob said: “I had this stabbing pain in my chest while we were watching TV. It was getting stronger and stronger and then it spread down my arm. I knew I was having a heart attack.
“We started driving to hospital but we reached the end of the road and the pain was so bad I knew I wasn’t going to make it.”
Thankfully, a police car pulled up behind their car at the junction and PC Terina Bilby from Derbyshire Police called the EMAS 999 control room for an ambulance for Bob.
PC Bilby kept Bob and Brenda Booth calm so the heart attack did not get any worse and waited with them until ambulance crew Michelle Taylor and Rhodri Williams arrived just a few minutes later to help Bob.
PC Bilby said: "I pulled up behind a car at the junction and Brenda got out of the car and came running over to me. I thought she was going to ask for directions but she said 'my husband's having a heart attack'.
"Bob kept saying 'I'm going to die' and I told him 'Not on my watch!
"I radioed through to the control room and I was so relieved when the ambulance crew arrived."
The ambulance crew immediately gave Bob treatment to slow the effects of the heart attack and gas and air to reduce the pain he was experiencing.
Four minutes after arriving, the crew put their blue lights on and rushed Bob to Nottingham City Hospital where a team of medics on the cardiac unit were waiting for him.
Bob was fitted with a stent in his heart, has quit smoking, started going to the gym regularly and he is on the road to making a full recovery.
Bob explained that without the help of PC Bilby and the ambulance crew, he might not be here today.
He is now encouraging anyone who is suffering chest pains or think they may be having a heart attack to call 999.
He said: “I was very lucky. If we had continued driving I might not be here. It was like a big jigsaw, it all fit together.
“The ambulance crew were very good and I’m pleased I got the chance to say thank you and have a cup of tea with them.”
Rhodri explained that meeting Bob today to see how he is doing was brilliant.
He said: "This is what we come to work to do, and it reminds you of the huge impact you can have on people's lives."